this means i love you

Dear Chicago,

You have a convincing way of coaxing me into grabbing my camera to rendezvous with you when the sun has long disappeared, and you've created your own constellations out of twinkle lights and neon signs.  We wander arm in arm as you tell stories and whisper sweet nuthin's to my camera, and I wonder how I ever got so lucky to be here in this very moment, to bear witness to the beauty that is you enveloped in the unexpected light of night. I have snubbed sleep and forgotten my need for food to be here with you, and not just tonight but on many other nights. Surely this must mean that I love you. And I can't help but think that you love me, too.

xoxo,

Sarah-Ji

P.S. I know I often prattle on and on about Pacific NW beauties like Seattle and Portland and the Olympic peninsula, but rest assured that you are my first and true love.

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Today, express your love via your images, be they for specific people, a place, a thought, or the whole universe. And if you want to write a little love letter, don't hold back.

sunday school: lightroom presets for night owls

It's probably obvious to most people who know me well (virtually or in the flesh) that I am a creature of the night.  This is partly due to necessity; I work full-time 30 miles from home in a corporate office setting, and therefore, especially during the winter, my daylight hours of freedom are quite limited.  Fortunately, I live in a big city that stays brightly lit long after the sun has gone down, and since I've always been a night owl, I have no problem claiming the title of streetlight photographer.

I've done quite a bit of night photography on the streets around Chicago these past couple winter months, so I created a set of Adobe Lightroom Develop Presets specifically for processing photos that were taken under streetlights or other kinds of orange-ish (tungsten) artificial dim lighting. To see larger photos of these examples, you can go to this gallery of images and click on any thumbnail on that page to see a larger version.  To download a zip file of these presets, click here.  You can view instructions on installing presets here. 

These presets will not impact exposure and brighness, so you'll want to adjust those setting either before or after applying the presets to get the results you want.  Also, since these are specifically for night-time shots that may have required a high ISO, the noise reduction settings will not be impacted by the presets, as you will want to adjust those yourself depending on your personal tolerance for noise.  And while these presets were developed for RAW (uncompressed) files, most of them should work for JPEG files as well; you'll just need to tweak a little more here and there.

Night photography can be challenging, but it's also a boon for those who like to get creative in the digital darkroom.  Do you have a night image that you processed in an interesting way?  Please share your tips and links to images.  Or if you happen to try out any of these presets on a night shot collecting dust in your archives, please do show us your results.

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Edited To Add: These presets are for use with Adobe Lightroom 2.  Unfortunately, these are not actions and can't be used in Photoshop.  You can download a trial version of Lightroom here to try out for 30 days.

Sunday School: A Time to Click, A Time to Wait

The show let out at a quarter to midnight.  I should've gone straight home since I would need to be up at six the next morning for work.  It was cold, I was tired and hungry and my feet felt like they were made of lead, but I felt a strong flutter of anticipation; my inner photo detector was going off loudly, and I knew better than to ignore it.   I listened to that still small voice that spoke not in words but in sensations--the tightening of my chest, the wave of nostalgia washing over me, the rollercoaster in my stomach--signs that clearly told me that there was a photograph I needed to take that night, and if I were patient and still, I would know.

And so I waited, standing at my favorite Six Corners with my camera ready.  I clicked the shutter a few times here and there, but for the most part, I simply kept watch and waited. Then I saw them, crossing the street towards me, a young couple walking in the warmth of contented familiarity, and they paused in front of me, waiting for the light that would take them to the next corner.  The moment I saw the cloud of smoke and breath intermingled--a ghost given up to the cold clear night--I quickly aimed my camera and clicked.  THIS was the photo I was waiting for.  I can't explain to you how I knew, but I did.

There is a time to click, click, click away, and there is a time to be still and vigilant for that one moment you've been waiting for.  To me, it is a spiritual practice, this business of being still, especially since I have a shutter-happy index finger.  To practice pure presence in that time and place, to soak it in and relish deliberate slowness; it is meditation, it is prayer, and it is a gift to myself.

If your usual modus operandi is to shoot randomly and often, try waiting 5 minutes in between shutter clicks.  Try waiting 10 minutes.  Experience a different way of seeing the world, savoring bits and pieces until the big picture comes into focus.  It's not something I do often, but when I do, the reward of the wait is oh-so worth it.

Do you have images that were the result of meditative and deliberate waiting?  Have you ever kept watch in anticipation of the right moment? Please share with us the fruit of your patience.

Sometimes? Life Calls For Ice Cream

It was the middle of November, and I was hitting a wall.  So much going on in my life, some good, some difficult, and all of it pulling my limbs in every which direction.  My husband had an event going on that night, and of course my daughter didn't want to miss out.  I should stay home and get some work done, my inner logic reasoned.  I'll regret it come this weekend if I don't.  Luckily for me, something a tad unusual happened; a sudden surge of spontaneity took over and hushed my common sense.  I decided to go out and have fun with my family.  I decided to say yes to myself, to what I really wanted.  And when my daughter asked to go out for ice cream that night?  I said yes to that, too. 

I believe this image is a sweet reward for having done so.

I'm learning that when I have these little urges to veer off the usual path, I should listen to my inner guide, because more than likely, there is magic waiting to be discovered in the hidden cover of mystery.  Sometimes the magic is profound and life-changing, and other times it's the simple pleasure of enjoying the unlikely ice cream cone on a cold November evening with your 5 year old sprite of a child.

When was the last time you chose to be spontaneous and said yes to yourself?  Wasn't it sooo worth it?  Please share your stories and any images you were rewarded with!

sunrise/sunset

It's hard for me to see a sky like this and not run to grab my camera. A sunset this beautiful almost seems too good to be true, like I need proof that it actually happened or no one would believe me. It's amazing that something that happens everyday, like the sun going down, can still manage to produce such a spectacular scene. It's ordinary and extraordinary at the same time.

I'd love to see some more outstanding sunsets or sunrises. Leave your examples in the comments!